TV for Grownups

The Challenger Disaster is one of those movies – The Social Network and Moneyball are other fairly recent examples – that manage to wring gripping, suspenseful drama from a subject that wouldn’t seem to inspire it. The film, which premieres on Science Channel on Saturday night at 9, recounts the true story of the Rogers Commission, the presidentially appointed group that investigated the cause of the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion. As the Discovery-owned cable net’s first-ever feature film, it’s …

The flood of upcoming TV specials commemorating the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination threatens to be a little redundant: Conspiracy theories aside, we probably know about as much as we’ll ever get to know about that awful November day. >> Sign up for the AARP Leisure Newsletter That’s not to say that remembering the tragedy isn’t important. It’s just to point out that the most interesting of the JFK-themed programs scheduled to air in the run-up to the Nov. …

Dying is a subject most people would rather not talk about, let alone base an entire television show on. But on Time of Death, Showtime’s poignant, oddly beautiful docu-series that premieres tonight at 10, there’s no escape from watching life’s final act. The show follows real people who are terminally ill – medical treatment may keep them alive for a while, but there is no hope for recovery. All the main subjects of this show will die: It’s the rare TV …

Dana Delany is 57 and says she’s never felt better. “I’m not somebody who’s ever had a problem getting older. That doesn’t scare me,” says the raven-haired actress. “I like who I am now so much more than ever. I feel much more comfortable in my skin.” She was just an up-and-coming actress a quarter century ago when she starred in the groundbreaking Vietnam War drama China Beach. In a breakthrough role as Army nurse Colleen McMurphy, Delany helped viewers …

When Lillie McCloud wowed the judges at her X Factor audition, it was a moment more than 50 years in the making. On the Sept. 11 season premiere, the 54-year-old McCloud, grandmother of seven, strolled onstage in a painted-on leather catsuit and belted out Cece Winans’ “Alabaster Box.” It left the celebrity judging panel agog (just watch the video below). >> Sign up for the AARP Travel Newsletter “Where have you been hiding?” Kelly Rowland wondered as the crowd behind …

Edythe Kirchmaier posts to Facebook a few times each week. Her “Likes” include Prince William and The Cheesecake Factory, and most of her comments are about her family; others concern her charity work for nonprofit Direct Relief, which delivers medical supplies to disaster sites around the globe. So how did Kirchmaier get more than 41,000 Facebook followers? She is 105, the world’s oldest Facebook user. That distinction brought the California resident all kinds of media attention this year. In January, her …